Review of Speed Racer (2008) by Dannyh — 02 May 2009

To preface this review, while I have time upon time watched the Speed Racer anime, I was never a religious fan of the series. However, this was a genuinely enjoyable family movie. It had some pretty funny comedy, fight scenes that you wouldn't expect to be this good, car races (of course), and big explosions.

And who doesn't enjoy all that? The characters were instantly likeable and the flashbacks, while kitchy, were both fun to watch and gave insight into the lives of the characters. For a movie that seems all flash at first glance, there is a LOT of substance.

But, there is still flash, for better or for worse. The environments look beautiful but in the first and final races, the colors tend to blend together, even on a decent sized HD TV. So, the colors may hurt your eyes a bit.

The only other problem I had was that the track races themselves were kind of boring. However, with the flashbacks and banter overtop the speeding cars, they still managed to be entertaining. In short, if you have kids, are a kid, or are a kid at heart, watch this movie.

You'll be glad that you did. If you yell at the youngsters to get off your lawn, this may not be for you.